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To-Die-For Cupcakes!!

Dude. Matt hates it when I “dude” him, but these cupcakes deserve a “dude”. I figured they’d be too heavy – one of those desserts that you eat once and think “ok that was good, but I couldn’t eat it more than once”. I could honestly eat all 12 of these little nuggets (but I wouldn’t dare – I’d be eating 3 sticks of butter).

I found this recipe on another blog site yesterday when my brother, Kenny, was over. He was obsessed instantly! The only ingredient I didn’t have on hand was the instant espresso powder. I’m having both brothers over for dinner tonight, so I had to go to the grocery store anyway. While I was there, I picked up some espresso powder ($3) so I could make these and surprise Kenny.

Mix the espresso powder into the brewed coffee until dissolved; set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined. In a measuring cup, combine the milk, brewed coffee mixture and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture, alternating with the coffee mixture, ending with the flour mixture.

Divide the batter evenly between the 12 liners (I have found using an ice cream scoop works the best to get evenly sized cupcakes). Baking for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting cupcakes.

Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping once to scrape the sides of the bowl. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar a little at a time, waiting until it is mostly incorporated before adding more. Once all the powdered sugar has been added, scrape the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium-high and whip until fluffy, about a minute or two. Add the espresso and vanilla mixture and continue to mix at medium-high until it is completely incorporated, scraping the sides as necessary.

These cupcakes are soo stinkin’ good! Oh my Lord! Like I said, I could seriously eat all of them. There is not a single thing I would have done differently with these (although, for some reason, my cupcakes didn’t rise as tall as they should have). They were super easy and quick to make too! Get thyself to the grocery store and get espresso powder if you don’t have it already and make these! Trust me!